Indiana men’s basketball faced real adversity for the first time all season, struggling to put away an Incarnate Word team that the Hoosiers were supposed to handle by 20-plus points. The shots weren’t
falling, the Hoosier’s (lack of) size looked to be hurting them, and then the Cardinals just refused to miss for a period in the second half.
With some of the well-contested shots that Incarnate Ward started making, both inside and outside the arc, tonight really looked like the night Darian DeVries would suffer his first loss as Indiana’s head coach.
Compounding the issue was that it was Indiana’s worst shooting night of the DeVries era, seeing the Hoosiers go 5-24 from behind the arc. This was less than half of the average percentage we had seen from this offense so far.
And yet, somehow, Indiana emerged with a win. It’s one to forget and improve from, but a win all the same.
Here are three takeaways:
The Shooting
I don’t expect nights like tonight to be the norm, but it was going to be hard for Indiana to sustain the nearly 50% shooting from 3-point range it had put up through the first three games. The key for Indiana will be surviving nights like tonight against better competition.
As we learned from the Tom Crean era, a bad-shooting night can happen anytime. Sometimes a tough defense forces it, and sometimes you just have a bunch of guys having a bad night at the same time. Either one can be just as deadly.
While the second-half scoring drought left a lot to be desired, Indiana demonstrated for stretches tonight that it’s capable of generating high-efficiency shots at the rim, which is why Sam Alexis and Trent Sisley wound up as two of Indiana’s top three scorers tonight.
A big part of this was the motion already built into the offensive system that Indiana runs under DeVries. As with the first three games, the vast majority (18-23) of Indiana’s made baskets were assisted.
Indiana will have to prove that it can do this against bigger, stronger teams in the paint, but tonight it showed that the blueprint is there to weather a bad shooting night or two.
Sam Alexis
As of now, Indiana’s main answer to poor shooting performances appears to be Sam Alexis, with good reason.
He sacrifices some versatility and handling to Reed Bailey, the starting center, but sometimes you need a stronger, bigger body inside to make contested shots and bring down offensive rebounds. That’s exactly what Alexis brought today.
Alexis led Indiana with 16 points, tied Trent Sisley for the lead in rebounds (8), and tied Conor Enright in offensive rebounds, giving Indiana much-needed second chances inside. He did all this with officials that were mostly tolerant with anything short of felony battery in the paint.
With his body and championship experience, Alexis brings something to Indiana that nobody else on the roster has. Look for him to continue playing a big role going forward.
Trent Sisley
Finishing with ten points tonight, Sisley reached double digits for the second time in the first four games of his college career. He hit two of Indiana’s five 3-pointers, and tied the team lead in rebounding with eight coming off the bench.
There’s really no way to understate what Sisley has done this season, tonight in particular. When he first checked into the game, Indiana was getting killed on the defensive glass, so he went out and led the team with seven defensive rebounds. Again, this is off the bench, as a freshman.
Sisley has also looked capable as a perimeter shooter, while bringing energy on cuts and crashing the glass that leaves him good looks inside. He got a few easy buckets today capitalizing on the attention Alexis was getting, cutting for short passes from the other big in the paint.
Sisley contributing like this for the whole season, even with a freshman stumble here and there, will help Indiana immensely this season, giving it size, shooting, and athleticism on the bench.
